Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 330 Fiscal Revenue and Expenditure
For the Pechenegs, warhorses were the most trustworthy companions. They would observe the stables for a long time, trying to choose the horse they felt closest to as their mount.

Thanks to their rigorous training from childhood, these recruits are exceptionally skilled horsemen, with some even surpassing their cavalry instructors in horse handling.

"Not bad, these guys are natural-born rangers, much better than those stupid peasants." Company Commander Havelun praised softly, watching some of them demonstrate "hiding in the stirrups".

On the training field, the nomadic rider sat steadily in his saddle, accelerating to maximum speed. In the blink of an eye, the rider's entire upper body suddenly leaned to one side of the saddle, as if disappearing from sight.

In fact, the rider's one foot was tightly hooked in the stirrup, like an iron hook, his body pressed against the galloping horse. After a while, the rider used his amazing core strength and the foot hooked in the stirrup to propel himself back into the saddle.

According to the Pecheneg people, this practice has three uses:

Dodge the arrows.

Pick up items. While speeding, retrieve dropped weapons or shot prey.

Stealthy ambush. When cavalrymen approach the enemy quickly, hiding in the stirrups can reduce the chance of being discovered, making the enemy mistake it for a harmless empty horse. Then, they can suddenly appear and attack when they get close.

However, the riding instructors did not recommend such a high-risk stunt. The rangers were fully armored, sufficient to withstand arrows, so there was no need for such an unnecessary maneuver.

After training, Santan led his horse back to the stable. He had the most Viking vocabulary, so he was appointed as the temporary squad leader.

He hadn't gone far when he heard a chorus of excited shouts behind him. It was Company Commander Havelun and a dozen or so Rangers behind him.

Havelun graduated from the Cavalry Department of the Army Academy last year. He is the youngest son of the wealthy merchant Harry. He is extremely generous and often treats his brothers to drinks. Occasionally, he takes outstanding cavalrymen to town for fun. The Pecheneg soldiers like him very much.

Unfortunately, Santan belongs to Erenhot and is therefore ineligible for this benefit.

After spending an hour tending to his warhorse, he went to the public bathhouse to shower, and then received his usual meals at the canteen: fried fish, vegetable soup, and flatbread.

"Add some more fish sauce for me."

Santan loved this seasoning; just a spoonful could make the whole bowl of hot soup taste even better. Suddenly, six chimes rang outside. He quickly finished his fried fish and vegetable soup, stuffed the hard bread into his pocket, and left the canteen.

As a grassroots commander, Santan needs to attend two extra hours of training every night to learn Viking language, draw topographic maps, and use celestial bodies to determine direction.

Having grown accustomed to this busy and fulfilling life, his dreams were sometimes interspersed with various training scenarios, and unknowingly, his memories of life on the grasslands began to fade.
Londinewum.

An auction is being held in the city, selling Caribbean pearls.

In June, two three-masted sailing ships carrying exiles sailed to Puerto Rico. Afterwards, Lieutenant Colonel Lake, aboard the Voyager, explored the surrounding area and made significant discoveries on islands in the southern Caribbean. The islands were rich in pearls, and Lake traded for large quantities of pearls, paying only for some insignificant small commodities.

Fearing the envy of his colleagues, he offered most of his pearls to the royal family and promised to provide more income in the future, eventually obtaining the title of Governor of the Caribbean.

Most of the pearls were white or cream-colored, with a few being light rose-colored, and their surfaces had flame-like patterns. Vigé kept the best pieces for the Queen to bestow upon the noblewomen who came to pay their respects, and auctioned off the rest.

In just two days, the pearls sold out, bringing the royal family an income of £1,500. With this windfall, their yearly income increased to £46,000.

Among them, the growth rate of agricultural tax was relatively small, and despite the introduction of New World crops and the promotion of seaweed fertilizer in coastal areas, it still could not keep up with the booming handicrafts and commerce.

"For a population of 910,000, this level of agricultural tax is sufficient."

The total expenditure was £29,000, with military spending accounting for more than half, including: military pay, equipment procurement, militia training in the twelve counties, and horse trade.

Other expenditures remained largely unchanged. The completion of the two main roads, Londineum-Manchuni and Londineum-Edinburgh, greatly improved the kingdom's land transportation, fulfilling Vig's expectations. He had no plans to invest in any new large-scale projects in the short term.

After finishing the accounts, he recalled a letter that the intelligence system had recently obtained. The sender was a nobleman from the Paris court, and the recipient was the abbot of a monastery in Normandy. The two were friends, and the letter was accidentally obtained by an agent during its delivery.

The letters mainly complained about various trivial matters, including the financial income and expenditure of the West Frankish royal family.

The total value of the land rent in the direct territory was £13,000, accounting for 50%, which led to the calculation that Bald Charlie's annual income was £26,000.

West Francia had fertile land and higher crop yields than Britain. Its drawback was the small size of its direct territories. Charles the Bald only controlled the Île-de-France (Paris region), parts of the Loire Valley, parts of Burgundy, and some scattered estates in Aquitaine (territories of rebellious nobles).

Moreover, his directly administered territories were discontinuous and scattered throughout the country, which was not conducive to unified management.

In contrast, Britain's direct territories were divided into two main parts:

The five counties in the south, including London and Cambridge, as well as County Tyne in the north and the whole of Scotland, are more administratively efficient.

Based on intelligence gathered from various sources, Vig and the cabinet estimated that Charles Bald's direct population was between 400,000 and 600,000, which could provide 13,000 pounds in land rent, the limit that farmers could afford.

In the letter, the nobleman complained about the decline of Flemish handicrafts, where the annual commercial and customs taxes, which used to total four thousand pounds, now only provide a little over a thousand pounds, and the decline continues.

In terms of expenditures, Charles the Bald's annual expenses were similar to Vig's, at 25,000 pounds. Sixty percent of this was for military expenses, used to build fortresses and purchase equipment, in preparation for war with the Vikings.

Because he claimed the title of Emperor from his grandfather Charlemagne, he needed to maintain a corresponding pomp and circumstance, with court expenses accounting for 20%, or 5,000 pounds.

Every year, Charles would donate over three thousand pounds to the various monasteries, accounting for one-fifth of his total expenditures. He would also occasionally donate land, resulting in decreasing agricultural taxes.

The last thousand pounds were used to reward nobles and for administration. West Frankish civil servants were far fewer than in Britain, so expenditures in this area were minimal.

Overall, the West Frankish royal family's finances were extremely fragile, constantly teetering on the edge of deficit. This was similar to other continental European countries of the same period, lacking sound fiscal planning, and in the face of large-scale wars, their usual methods were nothing more than raising taxes and borrowing money from the Church.

"Two years ago, when the Franks attacked Denmark, Charles the Bald repeatedly urged Gunnar to attack, forcing him to go to Hamburg to fight me, probably because the royal treasury could not hold on."

(End of this chapter)